Local monarchists remember Queen Elizabeth II
As news of Queen Elizabeth II’s death reverberates around the world, Waterloo region monarchists are remembering their encounters with the Queen.
Britain's longest-reigning monarch and Canada's head of state died Thursday after 70 years on the throne. She was 96.
The palace announced she died at Balmoral Castle, her summer residence in Scotland, where members of the royal family had rushed to her side after her health took a turn for the worse.
Kitchener resident Bradley Barbour travelled to Toronto to meet the Queen during her Canadian tour in 2010. He said he still remembers how special the experience of shaking her hand was.
“It was the Queen herself that I really fell in love with, her sense of duty and that she’s been such a busy body, she’s never been able to slow down,” said Barbour, speaking to CTV New’s Thursday morning before news of the Queen’s death broke.
The 2010 meeting wasn’t the only time Barbour, a member of the Waterloo-Wellington Monarchist League, has seen the Queen.
He also went to England during her diamond jubilee in 2012, where he attended the river pageant and many other festivities.
He said being in that crowd was almost magical, as everyone sang ‘God Save the Queen’ in unison, and the Queen and the royal family stood on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
He said being in the presence of the Queen was a bit like being near a superhero.
'SEEMED LIKE SHE COULD GO FOR ANOTHER 10 YEARS'
Another monarchist in Waterloo region said he also fondly remembers meeting the Queen, and being of British descent, said this is a death of an era.
“She seemed like she could go for another 10 years,” said Mark Harrison, co-owner of New Dundee Emporium.
“She always just kind of dutiful done a role, a job she didn’t even ask to be part of, but just born into it,” he said.
Vera Von Bogen-Cormier, a Kitchener resident and monarchist, said she met Queen Elizabeth II for the first time at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto during the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Tour in 2002.
'KIND OF MAGICAL'
“Seeing her in person and it’s kind of magical it sounds a bit silly but it is,” said Bogen-Cormier.
“I brought flowers and she kind of [leaned] right towards me and I handed her flowers and these bright blue eyes and I smiled and said thank you and she went on her way.”
She saw the queen again during her stop at Research In Motion in Waterloo in 2010, and again for a third time later that year at Queen’s Park in Toronto.
“[She was] just so gracious and patient and never puts a foot out of place.”
The Queen visited Waterloo region on several occasions during her reign.
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